


won't you take your time on me? (cause we got nowhere else to be)

by haline



Category: The Dark Artifices Series - Cassandra Clare, The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: (kinda), Blind Date, F/F, First Meeting, Humor, aline and alec are gay besties, helen and magnus are bi besties, they're stuck in an elevator together, what more do you need honestly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2019-06-26 22:36:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15672672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haline/pseuds/haline
Summary: “It seems this sitcom has taken an interesting turn.”“I’d watch it, honestly. I like weird romantic comedies.”Or, Aline and Helen are stuck in an old, rundown elevator, and they do the only thing that seems logical: they go on a date.





	won't you take your time on me? (cause we got nowhere else to be)

**Author's Note:**

> happy haline day y'all! i planned this to be a short little one shot but it ended up being 6k??? i'm so sorry,,,, this is the most ridiculous thing i've ever written but i still hope you like my very bad attempts at comedy!!!

“Why are you acting so weird, Alexander Lightwood?”

“I’m not acting weird,” Alec said through the phone. “And don’t use my full name like that, you sound like my mother.”

Aline rolled her eyes, pushing open the building’s door. It creaked. Loudly.

“Ah, you’re here,” said Alec. “Good. Very good.”

“You’d recognize that squeak anywhere huh?”

“Yep, I know all about—” He trailed off. “What? Yes she’s—Oh.”

“I assume you’re not talking to me?”

“Sorry,” Alec said. “I was talking to Magnus. Anyways, you have to hit the elevator’s button a few times to get it to work, I wouldn’t recommend taking the stairs.”

“This place is a dumpster,” Aline said, scrunching her nose as she made her way through the dark foyer. It was dark, of course, because the light bulb was cracked and no one had bothered to replace it. “Tell me again why do you still live here?”

She saw Alec shrugging as sure as if he were in front of her. “It has character.”

“It’s falling apart.”

“Well, will you pay my rent if I were to move to a new, fancy apartment?”

Aline rolled her eyes again. She hoped Alec could see it too. “Stop acting like you’re bankrupt, Alec. Why didn’t we hang out at Magnus’s house like we always do?”

“Stop complaining,” Alec said. “Just get over here.”

“I’m trying.” Aline pushed the elevator button. Several times. There was no response. “What’s wrong with the stairs again?”

“Rats,” Alec said nonchalantly. “And I think some may have fallen apart.”

“Jesus, Alec, you really need to move out, maybe with Magnus if you can’t afford a place of your own, though I know for a fact that you can.”

There was some fumbling on the other side of the line, no doubt Alec stuttering something about it being too soon. “Just get over here,” he said again. “And hurry if you want to—” he trailed off, again, and Aline heard Magnus eagerly saying something. “Just hurry.”

“Okay,” Aline said, squinting. “Alexander, I swear to God if you’re trying to set me up again— Hello? Hello? You damn weirdo.”

Someone chuckled next to Aline, and she nearly jumped out of her skin.

“Ah, sorry,” said the girl standing beside her. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“It’s the lights,” Aline said quickly, feeling very hot on the face. Oh no. This girl was pretty. “Or rather, the lack of lights. This place is creepy.”

“Agreed,” she said, smiling.

Oh no. She shouldn’t smile like that. She was  _very_ pretty. Her eyes were a striking shade of blue and green at the same time, and Aline had to remind herself that it was impolite to stare at a stranger for too long, but she couldn't help it,  _this_ particular stranger looked like a movie star. It was almost rude.

Aline made herself look ahead as if the elevator doors were telling her the most interesting story she’d ever heard. She was reminded, once again, that she’d been single for way too long. Though it wasn’t really her fault, it’s not like she hadn’t been on any dates lately, but she just never seemed to click with anyone.

Add that to Alec and Isabelle always setting her up with the worst girls possible, and Aline was beginning to feel more frustrated than anything else.

It wasn’t a bad thing, being single, it really wasn’t, but it did mean Aline got too nervous around pretty girls. Embarrassingly nervous.

Finally, the wicked elevator—creaking like nothing else—opened its doors. Aline nearly stumbled inside, trying her best to look casual as the girl stepped in behind her, apparently not even minding that the place smelled like dust and mildew. At least it had a light, though it flickered.

And Alec, of course, lived on the tenth floor, which meant a long and awkward elevator ride. It didn’t help that the girl was going to the same floor, nor did it help the elevator squeaked and hissed like a cat being strangled. How was this safe at all? Aline almost preferred to deal with the rats.

“You don’t live here, do you?” she asked the girl.

She seemed startled Aline was even making conversation—she had common sense, it seemed, what kind of person talked to strangers in rundown elevators? That was creepy. “God no.”

Alright, back to awkward silence it was. That had been a poor attempt at small talk anyways, but Aline really couldn’t help herself, nor could she help staring at the girl out of the corner of her eye. Whatever chance she had was gone now. Did Aline really thought she was going to find her future girlfriend in a place like this? She really was desperate.

Well, at least things weren’t completely silent. The elevator was still screeching something awful.

And then it stopped altogether.

The entire thing shook, and there was a loud  _thump_ as something hit the ground below. Way below. As Aline stumbled and nearly tripped, she thought for a moment that it had been the entire elevator hitting the floor, but that was silly, they weren’t falling, they were just—unmoving.

Oh no.

“Shit,” the girl mumbled, one hand braced against the wall.

“Shit indeed.”

“Are we trapped here?”

“Perhaps it just stopped to pick someone on this floor.”

“We're in the middle of two floors.”

“Well, shit.”

Aline took a deep breath, though the place didn’t smell particularly nice. It was a good thing she wasn’t claustrophobic, because the elevator was rather small and two people were enough to make it seem extremely crowded.

“Of course this doesn’t work,” the girl said, frantically smashing the emergency button. “This place is a nightmare. An actual nightmare. I’ve had nightmares that start with me trapped on an elevator.”

Damn, what if  _she_ was claustrophobic?

“Calm down,” Aline said, fishing for her phone on her purse. “I’ll just call my friend, I bet this happens all the time and there’s a way to fix it.”

“That makes me feel extremely safe.”

Aline ignored the blatant sarcasm, hitting ‘call’ on Alec’s name. It rang. And it rang. By the third ring, Aline was considering murdering him. Luckily, Alec picked up.

“What? Where are you?”

“Trapped in the elevator,” Aline said. “How do we get out?”

“You’re trapped?  _Inside_ the elevator?”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes. That’s what trapped means—I’m guessing this is not an everyday occurrence?”

“Okay if the place was  _that_ damaged I definitely wouldn’t live here.” He paused. “Magnus, Aline says she’s trapped in the elevator.” There was a muffled response that made Aline huff in exasperation.

“Can you focus, please?”

“Right, sorry,” Alec said. “Are you safe?”

“Would I be calling if I wasn’t?”

“Well you once called me right after a car accident. While you were still in the hospital.”

“It was a  _mild_ accident, and it’s not like I called during surgery or something—and you’re my emergency contact anyways!”

The girl raised her eyebrows, and Aline had to shake her head.

“Please,” Aline said into the phone. “This isn’t the time to talk about my life choices. I need solutions.”

“Right,” Alec said. “Press the emergency button, maybe—” he stopped as Magnus said something that Aline couldn’t understand, and Alec gasped.  _“Oh.”_

“What?”

“Nothing,” Alec said quickly, then he asked on a more hesitant voice: “Are you on your own?”

“No,” Aline said. “There’s another girl here with me, so it’d be real good if you could help us out.”

Alec tried to muffle his voice by taking the phone away from his face—he was so predictable Aline could see the motion perfectly—but it didn’t work completely. “She said yes,” he said, but Magnus's response was lost to Aline.

"Hello?"

“Right. Try the button.”

“We tried the stupid button,” Aline said. “It doesn’t work, because you live in a dumpster. Literally. It smells like something died on the walls.”

“There’s a water leakage,” Alec said. “Look, I think your only choice is to call 911 and—”

Silence.

“And what?” Aline frowned. “Hello? Hello?” But of course, the line was dead. And of course, there wasn’t any service in this place anymore.

Aline wasn’t considering murdering Alec anymore, she was actually planning it. Maybe Magnus would help her, she couldn’t imagine someone like him would want to spend even a second in a place like this. The fact that he did spoke of just how grossly in love he was with poor, helpless Alec.

“What did he say?”

“We should call 911,” Aline said, trying her best not to look all murder-y. “I don’t have service here, do you?”

The girl raised her phone so Aline could see. The first thing she noticed was that the lockscreen had the picture of a child with striking blue-green eyes and adorable dimples. He looked a lot like her. Oh no, was this girl married and had a kid? She looked as young as Aline, but that didn’t mean anything, not everyone was as lonely and unlucky in love as she was. The second thing she noticed—and the most important one, of course—was that she too was out of service.

“I guess that’s it,” the girl said, throwing her hands in the air. “We’re going to die here.”

“We’re not going to die.” Aline tried not to smile. This was a serious situation. Her life could be in danger… but there was something hilarious about the entire scenario. She’d been hoping for a chance to have a conversation with this girl; it seemed the universe had really strange ways of granting wishes. Whoever was in charge of it was an asshole. “I’m sure my friend will realize we don’t have service here and he’ll call 911 for us, we just have to wait and trust him.”

“He lives in this place,” the girl said, completely baffled. “How trustworthy could he possibly be?”

“Point taken.” Aline hummed, then shrugged and extended her hand. “I’m Aline, by the way, I figure we should know each other’s names if we’re going to be stuck in here together.”

“Helen,” she said, shaking Aline’s hand with a bit of reluctance. It made sense, she probably thought Aline was a complete weirdo. “You don’t seem worried about this at all. Have you ever been stuck in an elevator before?”

“No, but I’ve been stuck in worse places,” Aline said. “Like my parent’s house.”

Helen laughed, and Aline had to blink herself out of a sudden daze. It shouldn’t be possible to be that pretty, it was unfair. “This is ridiculous,” Helen said. “Stuck in a weird elevator with a stranger and with no phone service. I mean, those are the kind of things that only happen in crappy movies.”

“You’re not a serial killer, are you? I would hate it if this crappy sitcom turned into a crappy thriller.”

“Even if I were,” Helen said with all the seriousness in the world. “What kind of serial killer would I be if I just confessed it to you, my victim?”

“I don’t know. The kind that only shows up in crappy thrillers?”

“I wouldn’t be a crappy serial killer in a crappy movie, I’d be a decent one in a decent movie, I do have  _some_ self-esteem.”

Aline smiled. “What is a person like you doing in a place like this?”

“A person like me?” Helen frowned, tilting her head. “Someone with a bad sense of humor?”

“Hey now, that’s also my sense of humor, don’t be rude.”

“Well, if you must know,” Helen said, she was smiling now. “A friend was trying to set me up with someone, and for some reason we had to meet here, it couldn’t be on a restaurant or whatever. Apparently he thinks dumpster buildings are romantic.”

Aline hummed thoughtfully. “You know, I think I was being set up, too, though Alec was being stupidly coy about it, but he’s—”

“Alec?” Helen’s eyes widened. “Alec Lightwood? Magnus Bane’s boyfriend?”

“Yeah, how do you—” Aline gaped. “ _Magnus_ is the one trying to set you up?”

“ _You’re_ the mysterious blind date?”

Aline was taken aback for a second. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I didn’t—I mean—” Helen shut her mouth, looking adorably flustered. “I didn’t mean it in a bad way! Just—what are the chances of this happening?”

“What are the chances indeed…” Aline paused. “You don’t think they set this up, do you? The entire elevator thing?”

“It does sound like something Magnus would do.” Helen groaned, rubbing her forehead. “But it’s just so contrived, how would they know we’d take the elevator at the same time?”

“Magnus does contrived plans for a living,” Aline said.

Helen frowned. “I’m pretty sure he’s a photographer.” Then added, as if to no one in particular: “I told my brother to hire him for his wedding, he’s quite good.”

Aline sighed, then leaned back against one of the walls, though she was half-scared it would give in under her and she’d plummet down to the ground. “It seems this sitcom has taken an interesting turn.”

“I’d watch it, honestly. I like weird romantic comedies.”

“Romantic?” Aline nearly choked on air alone, but she managed to keep her cool, barely. She was actually  _blushing_ , this was perhaps the most embarrassing situation she’d ever been in, including that time she forgot how to spell "Germanium" on a spelling bee; granted she'd been eight years old at the time, but she was still scarred.

“Well we were supposed to go on a date, right?”

“Right,” Aline said, but quickly regained her wits. “Lucky for you.”

Helen’s laugh really was as lovely as the rest of her. Aline could clearly see she was Magnus’s friend and not Alec’s. If this had been another of Alec’s attempts at finding a date for her she would’ve jumped out of the elevator already. “Lucky for  _me_ , huh?”

“I have a proposition,” Aline said, straightening her back.

Helen tilted her head at the suddenness. “I’m listening?”

“First—you’re not married, are you?”

“What? No, I’m not married.”

“Ah, of course, Magnus wouldn’t have set you on a blind date if you were. But that kid on your lockscreen—is he your son?”

Helen blinked repeatedly. “My  _son_?” And then she laughed as if Aline had said the most ridiculous thing possible. “How old do you think I am?”

“People can have children young,” Aline said, folding her arms. “It’s not a bad thing. And he looks a lot like you.”

“He’s my youngest brother,” Helen said, still laughing, and she showed the kid’s picture again for good measure. “His name’s Octavian, and he just started middle school. How cute is that?”

The pride gleaming on her eyes really made her seem more like a mom than an older sister. Aline had never seen someone so happy about a kid going to middle school, not even actual moms.

“Anyways,” Helen said. “Definitely not my son.”

“Oh okay, my mistake then. Will you still listen to what I have to say?”

“Well,” Helen said, shrugging. “We  _are_ stuck here, Aline, I don’t think I have much of a choice.”

“Great.” Aline smiled. “Do you want to go on a date with me?”

“Oh thank God.” Helen breathed out, and then—she laughed. “For a moment I thought you were going to propose.”

“I  _just_ met you,” Aline said, frowning. “Don’t be ridiculous, I’m not that weird— Unless you’re into that, then I guess I could propose. I’m actually ordained, so we could have the wedding right now in this small elevator. It’d be classy.”

“You’d officiate your own wedding?”

“We could die at any point, Helen,” Aline said. “This whole elevator could fall apart. Do you really want to get picky about that?”

Helen chuckled and shook her head. “You’re one of the strangest people I’ve met, you know?”

“You’re friends with Magnus Bane.”

“That’s why I said  _one of_.” And she laughed again, and Aline was pretty sure she could stand there and listen to that sound for days. She’d forgotten how real flirting was like, and the pleasant buzzing on her chest made it seem as if she wasn't trapped in an elevator at all. Oh yes, maybe this could work after all. “You’re really asking me on a date? Right now?”

“Why not?” Aline shrugged. “It’s what we’d be doing, anyways, if we weren’t stuck in here. Besides, do you have anywhere else to be? We may be trapped for a while.”

“I suppose you’re right.” Helen smiled and smoothed nonexistent wrinkles out of her jeans. “Can’t be worse than the worst date I’ve ever had.”

“Well we’re here to get to know each other,” Aline said, slowly sitting on the floor and stifling a groan, partly because her legs were stiff and partly because the floor was disgustingly sticky with soda. At least, she hoped it was soda. Helen followed suit, though she was much less whiny than Aline. “Do share.”

“Guy in college,” Helen said, setting her purse on the ground with much more reluctance. “I've met him like once or twice in class before he asks me out. He really seemed like a nice guy, so I said yes. On the first date he said the place was a 'surprise', but I still thought it’d be something silly like the movies or one of those awful restaurants guys love for some reason. Turns out it  _was_ an awful restaurant, his entire family was there and I was introduced as, of course, ‘the girlfriend.’”

Aline gasped.

“I know!” Helen said. “Cue the most awkward dinner I’ve ever been in, and I have six younger siblings so believe me when I say the bar was pretty high when it came to awkward dinners.”

“So you just—sat there? The entire dinner?”

“Honestly I was just too stunned to think of a way out, and I kept thinking ‘hey, maybe he just needed a hand because his family kept bothering him about being single’ and I was willing to go with it, because I’m a nice person. But after everything was done he told me he’d had a lot of fun—he really believed that one date meant we were in a relationship. Don’t laugh, it was awful.”

“I’m sorry,” Aline said, still laughing. “I would’ve walked away the moment I saw the family.”

Helen grinned. “You do seem like that type of person.”

“Thanks,” Aline said. “Want to hear about my worst date? It actually happened a few months ago.”

“Can it top mine?”

“I don’t know,” Aline said. “It was one of Alec’s friends. The thing is, she was straight, and she thought Alec was setting her up with a guy. Imagine her surprise when she saw  _me_. Instead of laughing it out like a normal person, she got really mad at me  _and_ Alec, for some reason, and we ended up arguing so much we got kicked out of the restaurant.”

Helen was laughing so hard she had to wait a few seconds to catch her breath. “Hold on,” she said between chuckles. “How did Alec manage to plan the whole thing without realizing that you were—uhh, incompatible?”

“To this day I still have no idea,” Aline said.

Helen laughed some more.

“You can stop laughing now, Helen.”

“Sorry.” She was grinning, her eyes crinkled in the most adorable of ways, and Aline felt like sunshine was somehow pouring over her skin. “I have a question though. Why does Alec live in a place like this one?”

Aline shrugged. “He’s had this apartment since he was a freshman in college. It was much better back then, but there’s the nostalgia factor, this is his very first apartment, and the first time he moved away from home.”

“I take it you’re good friends,” Helen said softly.

“Yeah.” Aline couldn’t help the silly smile that crept onto her face. “Our parents have been friends for a long time, so I met Alec basically when we were babies. We always did everything together, school, sports, clubs—then college and now, well—he sets me up on dates and I pretend to hate him most of the time.”

“That’s cute,” Helen said. “You must really love him if you’re willing to put up with this place.”

“Eh, it’s not so bad when you’re in the right company.”

“Wow.” Helen chuckled, playfully hitting Aline on the arm. “That was smooth.”

“Well I didn’t say anything about you.”

“I’m the only company you have right now,” she said, self-satisfied smirk and everything. “And, technically, I’m your date, so I’d be really offended if that wasn’t meant for me.”

“Fine, then I guess I’ll say it: I’m glad we got stuck on an elevator together, you really make this place feel like less of a dumpster.”

“Less of a dumpster? Wow, you flatter me.”

“Honestly, you should be glad we’re here, too, or else we’d be with Alec and Magnus, probably on a double date.”

“Would that be bad?”

Aline blinked. “Have you  _seen_ how they act around each other?”

“Actually, I haven’t,” Helen said. “I haven’t met Alec yet, though I’ve heard a lot about him from Magnus.  _A lot_. It’s the only thing he ever talks about, really.”

“Oh—how  _do_ you know Magnus, by the way?”

Helen scrunched her face, suddenly apprehensive. “Well we—met because of a certain legal incident.”

“Legal incident?”

“I thought Magnus was involved in a murder,” Helen deadpanned.

Aline started laughing, but quickly shut her mouth as she saw that Helen was dead serious. “Wait. What?”

“It was all a misunderstanding,” Helen added quickly. “The investigation revealed Magnus had absolutely nothing to do with it, clearly."

“Backtrack, please. Are you some sort of cop or detective? Oh my God are you in the FBI?”

For some reason that seemed hilarious to Helen, because she started laughing softly. “No, God no. I’m an attorney.”

That meant she was really smart. For some reason Aline felt her chest tightening, if she wasn’t attracted to Helen before—

“Oh, so you were defending Magnus at court or something?”

Helen’s face scrunched again. “Err—not exactly. I was the prosecutor.”

“Holy shit,” Aline whispered. “You tried to put Magnus in jail for murder—”

“Well not exactly—”

“—but ended up becoming  _friends_ with him? How in the  _world_ did that happen?”

“It’s a long story, really, and not as bad as it sounds.”

“It sounds hilarious,” Aline admitted. “Leave it to Magnus Bane to befriend the person trying to put him in jail.”

“I wasn’t trying to put him in jail,” Helen said, rolling her eyes. “Ah, and that reminds me—” she rummaged through her purse and then brought out a bunch of fun-size chocolates. A bunch. More than was probably healthy.

“Talking about putting your friend in jail reminds you of Snickers?” Aline asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Talking about work makes me hungry,” Helen said instead. “I see the way you’re looking at me, I won’t be shamed for my sugar cravings. Would you rather we continue this date on empty stomachs?”

“You have a point,” Aline said, taking one of the chocolates and peeling off the wrapping. “And that reminds me—” And then, as if it was the most casual thing to do while stuck in an elevator, she pulled a bottle of wine from her purse.

“Holy shit,” Helen said under her breath.

“Alec said to bring something nice.” Aline shrugged. “I’d almost forgotten about it, though we have no screw—”

“We don’t need one,” Helen said and took the bottle from Aline’s hand. Then she grabbed her keys from her purse and  _jammed_ one of them in the cork. It took less than a minute for her to pull it out, and by the end of it Aline was gaping. “Law school could be stressful,” Helen said as if that was the only explanation required, then took a swing from the bottle.

Damn. If Aline wasn’t attracted to her before—

“Well okay,” Aline muttered.

Helen smiled, then handed her the bottle back and picked through the chocolates. “How long have we been here?”

“Around thirty minutes,” Aline said, checking her phone. “Don’t know if Alec called 911 or just assumed we would do it.”

“Should we ration our food?” Helen asked, then proceeded to grab another chocolate. “Nah.”

“Maybe they did plan for this, you know, as a way to make us get along.”

“What are we now, kids?” Helen laughed. “I think we would’ve gotten along even if we weren’t stuck in a very small, very sticky elevator with no air conditioner.”

“You put a lot of faith in me,” Aline said, taking a sip of wine. “I can be really annoying when I’m not in small, sticky elevators with no air conditioner.”

“Nonsense. I bet you’re just as equally annoying as you are now.”

“You flatter me.”

Helen grinned, and there was a spot of chocolate on the corner of her lips Aline was dying to wipe away—with her mouth. God, was that wine too strong or were those really her own desperate thoughts?

“So,” Helen said. “What do you do for a living, Aline?”

“Disappoint my parents.”

“Oh c’mon.” Helen laughed. “It was a serious question.”

“Back to the ‘get to know me’ stage?”

“Well you know what my job is. It’s only fair.”

“I  _was_  being serious,” Aline said. “I’m an English major in a family of politicians, family dinners are always a disaster for me.”

“Oh I know all about that.” Helen smiled. "Please elaborate."

“I work in a publishing company, if you must know. Book editing department.”

“Is that a fancy way of saying you correct other people’s typos?”

“Yes, actually, it is.”

“Sweet.” Helen grinned again, sipping the wine. “And do you have any siblings?”

“Nope,” Aline said. “I’m an only child, with all that entails: selfishness and quietness and the full weight of my parents’ expectations.”

“Are they really that bad?”

“Not really,” Aline said. “Or rather—not anymore, at least.”

“I see,” Helen said, clearly noticing Aline didn’t want to talk about it. “Well, I do have siblings.”

“You’ve mentioned it,” said Aline. “Six, I think you said. How do you even live?”

"I don't." Helen laughed. “They’re all younger than me. Family dinners are always a zoo.”

“How do you get along?” Aline asked. “The biggest family I know is Alec’s, and he only has three siblings but they were always fighting when we were teenagers. Sometimes I was really glad I was an only child.”

“We get along just fine,” Helen said softly. “Though there are a lot of big age gaps, and of course there’s been a lot of fights—but we’ve always been pretty close.”

There was something beautiful in the way Helen looked down, as if remembering something precious, and in the way she smiled and in the way her voice curled caringly around the words.

“Tell me about them,” Aline said, half feeling like she was watching something out of a dream. Helen was just so—warm, it was hard not to feel fond of some random people Aline didn’t even know.

And wow, the way Helen’s eyes gleamed then, like a child entering their favorite amusement park, like a person listening to their favorite song. Aline was nearly left breathless. Helen spoke with great love, and it was hard not to get swept up with her voice.

She said that most of them were her half-siblings, except for Mark, who apparently was getting married later this year. Then there was Julian, who liked to paint. Then the inseparable twins, first Livia, apparently a mathematical genius, and then Tiberius, who was like a walking Discovery Channel. Then there was Drusilla, who was captain of the softball team on her school. And lastly Octavian who’d just gotten into middle school and liked pancakes way too much.

“And those are all the Blackthorns,” Helen said. “At least until Mark decides to have kids.”

“They sound like a handful.”

Helen smiled proudly. “They are, me included.”

“So you all live together?”

“Not anymore,” Helen said, chuckling. “We haven’t lived together in years, actually. Everyone lived with an uncle for a while when Mark and I went to college, then with me when I returned from law school. Now Julian and the twins are studying abroad, and Dru and Tavvy are still with me.”

“What about your parents?” Aline knew she probably shouldn’t ask—there must’ve been a reason why Helen hadn’t mentioned them at all—but the wine was loosening her tongue more than usual.

“My dad died when I was 18,” Helen said softly. “My adoptive mom two years before that. And my mom—well, I’ve never met her.”

“Oh.” Aline breathed out. “I’m sorry.”

When Helen smiled, it was as if the brief sadness hadn’t been there at all. “Don’t be, it was all a long time ago, and we pulled through.”

“You really  _are_ amazing.”

Helen paused with a little chocolate halfway to her mouth. “You’re a bit of a sweet-talker aren’t you?”

“I’ve been told that.” Aline went to take another sip of wine, and found that the bottle was lighter than it should have been. It was nearly empty. “You know I’m amazed at how much this actually feels like a normal, regular date.”

“Right?” Helen’s eyes twinkled. “It’s easy to forget where we are. Are you going to finish that?”

Aline narrowed her eyes. “This last bit of wine for that last snickers.”

“Ohh you’re clever,” Helen said, but eventually relinquished her chocolate. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

“Compliments won’t get you anywhere.”

“I can’t anywhere anyways, I’m stuck in an elevator.”

“That was a terrible joke, Helen, you're disappointing me.”

Helen scooted over until she was next to Aline, their backs against the same wall. “We’ve been here for almost an hour, I’m surprised it took me this long.”

They were close now, though both were staring at the closed doors ahead. They sat among chocolate wraps and an empty wine bottle and for the first time in a while, they didn’t say anything. Unlike an hour ago, when Aline had been almost choking with the uncomfortable silence, now everything seemed peaceful.

Yes. Maybe this could work after all.

“Helen,” Aline said quietly. “I know this is going to sound weird, but I think I’d like to go on another date with you, when we get out of here.”

“Really?” Helen tilted her head. “Well, that’s a relief. I’d like that, too.”

“I—”

The elevator rattled, and it was a good thing it did, because Aline wasn’t sure what she was going to say next, but she knew her words would’ve been way too influenced by the wine.

By instinct, Helen reached for her hand, and Aline momentarily forgot they may be seconds away from plunging down to the ground. At least she got to hold Helen’s hand before dying.

But the elevator wasn’t falling down, it was being pulled upwards, and Aline suddenly sobered up. There were a lot of screeches and a lot of shaking and there was Helen’s startled gasp and Helen leaning close to Aline, still holding her hand tightly.

“We’re not going to die after all,” Helen said under her breath.

“Seems like we’re not.”

“Weirdest date ever.”

* * *

Aline hit Alec on the arm. “You’re the worst friend ever.”

“I saved your life,” Alec grumbled.

“If it weren’t for you—” She sighed, then rubbed her eyes. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. I had fun.”

Alec blinked, then looked over Aline’s shoulder at where Magnus and Helen were greeting each other—in a much more civilized way than Aline and Alec. “You had  _fun_? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means what you think it means, Alexander.”

He grimaced. “Trust me, I don’t think it means what I think it means.”

She grimaced, too, and hit him again. “You’re disgusting.”

“Listen, I’m sorry about what happened.” Behind them, the firemen had just started to clear out, though it seemed that now the elevator was fully out of service. Thank God.

“You didn’t plan this,” Aline said flatly. The guilt in Alec’s eyes was too sincere, everything about Alec was sincere, really.

“How would I plan this?” Alec asked, honestly baffled.

“But you knew I was with Helen—How?”

“Because she texted Magnus at the same time that you arrived! Really, it was all a coincidence, I swear.”

“Figures,” Aline said, sighing.

“So—" Alec smiled. "You like Helen?”

“Alec!” Aline looked over her shoulder frantically, but luckily Helen and Magnus were busy seeing the firemen out, they kept asking a bunch of questions regarding the unsafety of this entire place. It seemed like Helen and Magnus were agreeing with them. “Don’t say those things right now.”

Alec just laughed. “You  _do_ like her. You spend one hour with her and you’re in love, that’s lame.”

“Shut up,” Aline grumbled. “I’m not—”

Alec made a strange gesture and Aline immediately cut off as Magnus and Helen walked up to them.

“So you’re the famous Alec Lightwood,” Helen said and shook Alec’s hand, and he looked surprisingly serious as he did. “It’s nice to finally meet you in person.”

“Yeah, likewise. I think you may be the only one of Magnus’s friends that doesn’t look a hundred years old.”

Helen raised an eyebrow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“He says things like that,” Aline said. “Pay no mind.”

“Can you say something nice, for once?” Alec asked, rolling his eyes. “Like, just for once in your life?”

“Nope. I just spent hours trapped in an elevator because of you, Alec, I’m very irritable.”

“It was less than an hour, shut up. And besides, didn’t you have  _fun_?”

Aline wished she could strangle Alec just with her eyes. She couldn’t, but at least she hoped the message got across. Alec, unfortunately, had been dealing with her for far too long to be affected by her glares.

“Oh I’m sure Helen had fun too,” Magnus said, and he had the same cheeky grin Alec did. Sometimes they seemed to be the exact same person, Aline could see why they were so gross together.

“You two,” Helen said slowly, “are implying something weird, and you better stop.”

Magnus just shrugged. “Well we did lose our restaurant reservation, so we’ll have to go search for—”

“Yes,” Aline said quickly. “Yes, whatever. I think I’d have dinner on Alaska just to get out of here.”

“Don’t say that,” Alec said. “You’re never gonna see this place again, so be nice.”

“I sure hope so—Wait, you’re serious?”

“I’m moving,” Alec said, letting it out in a breath as if it was a particularly hard thing to say. He really was fond of this apartment and all of its crappiness. “That’s why I wanted you to come here, so you could see it one last time before—”

“Alec, it’s an apartment, not a dying relative.”

He shot her a look. “Anyways, we really should get going now, I’m starving now that I had to wait an entire hour because of you.”

“Because of  _me_?” Aline shot him a look as well. “You have the nerve—?”

Magnus cleared his throat. “No more arguing.”

“We’re not arguing,” Alec and Aline both said at the same time.

“Well no more of—whatever that is,” Magnus said, gesturing with his hands towards them. “Let’s just leave and put this incident behind us.” Then he glanced at Helen, who’d been staring with an amused smile on her lips. “Otherwise, we’d be here all day, you really should see them sometimes, it looks like they hate each other, not like they’re best friends.”

“This is how we express love, Magnus,” Alec said.

“Yeah, Magnus.”

Magnus rolled his eyes, then moved to hold Alec’s hand and drag him out of the hallway. Towards the rat-infested stairs. Aline never got to see the apartment one last time—they were, after all, still next to the elevator—but she couldn’t say she was sorry about it. Well, maybe a little sorry, she’d spent most of her college years holed up there with Alec, drinking unhealthy amounts of coffee and staying up past ungodly hours. Those had been good times, before the place turned into a dumpster.

“You two are exactly how I pictured it. That was cute,” Helen said all of a sudden, as Magnus and Alec walked down the stairs, chattering and saying things about foul smells and dead rats. Mmm, Aline would’ve considered jumping out the window as a way down, but her mind had short-circuited because of Helen.

Helen, with a small spot of chocolate on her mouth and sweat pooling on her temples and eyes a little too glittery, and with a smile that was just so pretty it bordered on being upsetting. Aline felt an odd tightening on her chest, perhaps a sort of longing, a strange want for what could be.

“You’re beautiful,” Aline said, as candidly as always, but somehow she felt she was being even more honest than usual.

Helen blinked, a bit startled at first, and then seeing the blush rushing to her cheeks, even when her eyes were still steady, made Aline swoon all over again. “Well, thank you I guess, though I doubt I look good after—”

Aline kissed her.

It took Helen by surprise, obviously, because it wasn’t the epic, time-stopping kiss that Aline had been hoping for. It was kinda awkward, actually, a bit too rushed like they were both in a hurry, and though Helen did kiss her back it was Aline who pulled away first, feeling a bit like the entire place was on fire.

“We should probably go after Magnus and Alec,” Aline said. “I mean—”

“Wait,” Helen said, and one of her hands grabbed Aline’s wrist and the other one cupped the back of her neck and they were both very close now, so close Aline could see herself on Helen’s crystal eyes—dear God, she was a mess. “What was that?”

“I don’t know,” Aline breathed out. “Was that too much? Should I apologize? I’m—”

“You shouldn’t apologize,” Helen said, and then moved in even closer, her heartbeat loud against Aline’s chest. “You should kiss me again. Properly this time.”

“And  _I’m_ the sweet-talker?” Aline laughed, but she didn’t wait to hear Helen’s response.

She kissed her again. Properly this time.

It was just her luck, that out of all people in the world, she’d gotten stuck in a elevator with a girl like Helen Blackthorn.

**Author's Note:**

> fun story helen and aline's worst dates actually happened to a friend of mine (yes both of them, she has bad luck), another fun story i got stuck in an elevator for an hour once all by myself and it was Awful. also i'm so sorry for any typos or grammar errors i revised this thing like ten times but it's so long i'm pretty sure i missed a lot of mistakes i wanted to post it asap for haline day


End file.
